NATO chief criticizes treaty pushed by Nobel Peace Prize winner

NATO leaders often stress that it is a defensive alliance, and apparently the best defense is a thermonuclear offense.

On Friday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced the Nuclear Ban Treaty, an accord aimed at eliminating all nuclear weapons. The nonprofit group that has championed the treaty — the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) — won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

The world’s nuclear powers, including three NATO members — the United States, France and the United Kingdom — oppose the Nuclear Ban Treaty. In July, 122 United Nations member countries voted for adoption of the treaty, and so far 53 countries have signed it and 3 have ratified it, according to ICAN. The Netherlands was the only country to vote against adoption of the treaty.

In awarding this year’s peace prize to ICAN, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wrote: “The organization is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.”

Stoltenberg, in a statement on Friday, said he welcomed the attention given to the issue of nuclear non-proliferation by the Nobel Committee, but that ICAN’s treaty was the wrong way to go about reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

“Efforts towards disarmament must take into account the realities of current security environment” — Jens Stoltenberg

“NATO is committed to preserving peace and creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons,” Stoltenberg said. “We share this goal with ICAN and I welcome the attention given to this issue by the Nobel Committee. However, the Nuclear Ban Treaty does not move us closer to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. In fact, it risks undermining the progress we have made over the years in disarmament and non-proliferation.”

Stoltenberg, citing the “current security environment,” said NATO countries had no choice but to maintain their nuclear arsenal.

“What we need is verifiable and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons,” Stoltenberg said. “The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, which all NATO Allies have signed, remains the cornerstone of international efforts to do so. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO Allies have dramatically reduced the number of their nuclear weapons. But as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.”

He added: “NATO regrets that the conditions for achieving nuclear disarmament are not favorable today, but efforts towards disarmament must take into account the realities of current security environment.”

In a statement, ICAN called receiving the Nobel prize “a great honor.”

The Nobel Committee, in its statement, called on the world’s nuclear powers to enter serious negotiations aimed at eliminating atomic weapons.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee is aware that an international legal prohibition will not in itself eliminate a single nuclear weapon, and that so far neither the states that already have nuclear weapons nor their closest allies support the nuclear weapon ban treaty,” the prize committee wrote. “The Committee wishes to emphasize that the next steps towards attaining a world free of nuclear weapons must involve the nuclear-armed states. This year’s Peace Prize is therefore also a call upon these states to initiate serious negotiations with a view to the gradual, balanced and carefully monitored elimination of the almost 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world.”

A test fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location inNorth Korea

The committee noted that the U.S, Russia, the U.K., France and China had already committed to disarmament through the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which Stoltenberg referenced in his criticism of the new treaty.

“It is now 71 years since the U.N. General Assembly, in its very first resolution, advocated the importance of nuclear disarmament and a nuclear weapon-free world,” the prize committee wrote. “With this year’s award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to pay tribute to ICAN for giving new momentum to the efforts to achieve this goal.”

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Vishnou

Of course: NATO is owned by the US. What other reaction could one have expected? Having said this, the Nobel prize exercise had lost its initial values because these don’t fit today’s world. Besides, it doesn’t lead to any concrete achievements. Its so-called importance is but an insignificant PR exercise.

Posted on 10/6/17 | 5:18 PM CET

freddie silver

@ Vishnou
“…the Nobel prize exercise had lost its initial values because these don’t fit today’s world….”
The Nobel price rewards people who have contributed to the foremost advances in world science.
And Vishnou’s comment contributes to…..?
In the past one would have said “a waste of paper and ink” Today it’s a waste of bits but “plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose”.

great article!
but i have a slight criticism.. in the article you said that the netherlands is the only country to vote against the adoption of the treaty. you did point out that all the nuclear powers are against it, so it doesn t matter much, but i thought it would have been better to point out that the nuclear powers didn t vote on the adoption of the treaty at all.. so the netherlands are not actually as isolated as this article makes them appear, the other countries that were against it, just didn t vote.. i just would have wanted more emphasis on that point, its a small criticism.. other than that its a great article! thx for bringing some attention to this issue!
oh and.. fu** Jens Stoltenberg xD

Posted on 10/7/17 | 12:36 PM CET

Vishnou

@Freddie silver: hello again. I don’t mean to contribute anything. I leave to intelligent people like you to make a difference and change the world 🙂 By the way, how did your comment about my uselessness made this planet progress? I wonder 🙂